Family proposes additions to David's Law to increase school safety

BRYAN, Tex. (KBTX) - It was just over three years ago when a family took a tragedy and turned it into a legacy.

David Molak was 16 when took his own life after being cyber bullied. His family decided they would do what they could to prevent this from happening to another child. With the help of state legislators, the Molak family created David’s Law. The law creates policies to help schools combat cyber bullying.

David's Law has been in place for two years and now the family of David is looking at more ways to help kids who are being bullied.

"The suicide rate in Texas is higher than the national average and so we have to do something to protect our students,” said Maurine Molak, David’s mother.

New additions to David’s Law would require schools to teach suicide and substance prevention along with digital citizenship.

“It’s more than just starting a conversation with the school it is you need to provide this suicide prevention for your students," said Molak.

Family support specialist Fallon Beasley works with Brazos County students daily and thinks they could benefit from the additions.

“Most of my kids do not want to commit suicide. They don’t want to die. They’re just tired of feeling the way that they feel,” said Beasley.

The Molak family is working closely with state law makers on the updates to the law.

“We can just continue to make it stronger, continue to keep our kids more safe, and provide them with the protections they deserve when they go to school every day,” said Molak.

Official statement from Texas State Senator José Menéndez, District 26:The purpose of these two bills is to measure the level of bullying and cyber bulling in schools for the safety of our children. We also need to determine which schools need our help.

It is critical that we do everything to prevent suicide and substance abuse for our children. One part of that is to provide digital citizenship which helps students understand the safety risks of using social media sites.

These laws are critical in protecting our children from these destructive influences.

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